Part III: Youth - The Future

June 10, 2009

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Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas Festival

ISLAM IN EUROPE Insult: Fractured States? is a three-evening symposium on June 9, 10, and 11 that gathers prominent, cross-sector speakers from diverse disciplines and the Muslim diaspora to share country-specific perspectives on Muslim communities’ integration in European society.

In five events, ISLAM IN EUROPE sets the context for and explores multiple perspectives for viewing relations between European societies and their Muslim communities. Participants will examine how different European nations and the Muslim diasporas within their borders consider immediate local issues, as well as look at the development of a Europe-wide discourse. The program also offers opportunities to bring American voices into this dialogue and is aimed at identifying opportunities for cross-cultural understanding and cooperation.

Through scholarly debate, the related voices of participants of ISLAM IN EUROPE will articulate new perspectives offering insight into the ideas that shape policy and thought.

Part I, June 9, 7:00 pm
Opening Event: How Did We Get Here?
Part II, June 10, 6:00 pm
Migration Policy, Response and Reaction: The Status Quo
Part III, June 10, 7:30 pm
Youth: The Future
Part IV, June 11, 5:00 pm
Media: A Catalyst For Change
Part V, June 11, 7:00 pm
Conclusions: Where Do We Go From Here?

PART III YOUTH: THE FUTURE

This debate investigates how young people, as Western citizens who are fully confident in their Muslim identities, tackle thorny societal issues and challenge old paradigms, and discuss how young people can play an integral role in creating a better, socially coherent future.

Moustafa Bayoumi, City University of New York, moderator

Special guests panelists include Nanna Westh (filmmaker, Denmark), Farid Hafez (University of Vienna, Austria), Ziyah Gafic (Photographer, Bosnia-Hercegovina), and respondents, Nebojša Šeric Shoba (visual artist, Bosnia-Hercegovina) and Krzysztof Czyzewski (Borderland Foundation, Poland).

About Moustafa Bayoumi

Moustafa Bayoumi is an associate professor of English at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York. Born in Switzerland and raised in Canada, he is co-editor of The Edward Said Reader and has published academic essays in The Yale Journal of Criticism, Amerasia, Arab Studies Quarterly, The Journal of Asian American Studies, and other places. His writings have also appeared in The Nation and The London Review of Books. He is currently an editor for Middle East Report.

About Krzysztof Czyzewski

Krzysztof Czyzewski is a social activist, theater producer, essayist, and publisher, and the founder and president of the Borderlands Foundation (Fundacja Pogranicze) in Sejny, Poland. In 1990, the Borderlands Foundation was founded to memorialize, rebuild, and sustain the rich cultural diversity in Central and Eastern Europe. Czyzewski has brought the Foundation's model to regions of ethnic tension around the world. Since 2003 he has been an active member of the European Culture Parliament and in 2008 he served as Polish Ambassador to the European Commission's European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

About Farid Hafez

Farid Hafez works at the Institute of Philosophy of Law, Law of Religion, and Culture in Austria and studies at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Vienna. Hafez is also the co-editor of the first volume of Islamophobia in Austria. Hafez teaches at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Vienna on "Islam in Austria". In 1996, Hafez co-founded the Muslim Youth Organization and is frequently interviewed by the Austrian media on issues related to the life of Muslims in Austria.

About Ziyah Gafic

Ziyah Gafic is a photographer based in Sarajevo. His most recent exhibition, “Troubled Islam: Short stories from Troubled Societie,” presented in Beacon, NY, is a series of photo essays on the aftermath of war and violence in the daily lives of people living from Bosnia to Kosovo, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran and Iraq. He is the author of the book Muslims of New York. He regularly contributes to The New York Times Magazine, TIME, Liberation, and Le Monde, among others. His work has also been exhibited worldwide at such places as London Tom Blau Gallery and New York "Fovea editions" gallery.

About Nebojša Šeric Shoba

Nebojša Šeric Shoba is a visual artist who has shown work most recently at Warlord, Smith Stewart Gallery, New York; “Neo Constructivism: Art, Architecture & Activism,” Rutger’s Paul Robeson Gallery and NJ School of Architecture Gallery, Newark; “Now is the winter,” Proekt_Fabrika, Moscow, Russia; and “Greater New York,” P.S 1/MoMA, New York. His work has also been exhibited in the Venice Bienalle, Italy. His work has appeared in “Political Minimalism” by Claus Biesenbach, in Flash Art Magazine.

About Nanna Westh

Nanna Westh is a screenwriter and documentarist for television. She wrote the script for the Danish TV-series Yallahrup Færgeby about two preteens, Ali and Hassan, and their endeavours to succeed in the suburban ghetto and become “real gangstas.” Westh has previously worked for the Danish Public Broadcaster DR for seven years, making documentaries for television and radio.

Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas is a celebration of the extraordinary range of artistic expression in the Muslim world, co-presented by Asia Society, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and New York University Center for Dialogues during June 5 - 14.

This event is sponsored by European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).


This event is in partnership with Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas.